Cross-country

Notes from Detweiller: York's Mimlitz shows it's not about the shoes

weather complicates Warwick Valley trip

September 18, 2010|By Bob Narang | Tribune reporter

York's Alex Mimlitz ran the last three-fourths of the Richard Spring Invitational on Saturday without his right shoe.

He still finished in 16th place out of 554 runners and clocked a time of 15 minutes, 2 seconds on the 3-mile course at Detweiller Park in Peoria. He was the second York runner to cross the finish line.

"I guess I got a good excuse now," Mimlitz said. "I was in ninth place and seven guys passed me in the last 400. My sock slipped and got a hole in it."

Running to shelter: A lightning delay following the girls varsity race forced a change in the invitational's time schedule. Immediately after the completion of the girls race, meet officials requested that all runners and coaches seek shelter.

Illinois High School Association rules dictated a 30-minute wait following the last time thunder or lightning was heard or seen. Following more than a two-hour delay, the boys varsity race started at 12:53 p.m.

The invitational had to be completed by 2 p.m. due to a soccer tournament at Detweiller Park. The delay forced the boys and girls open races to be run together.

A long weekend: The Warwick Valley boys varsity team had good reason to be worried about missing competition because of the weather delay. The team, from New York, flew into O'Hare Airport on Friday and drove three hours to Peoria. Warwick Valley, ranked 15th nationally by ESPN RISE, anxiously sat through the delay.

"We thought we brought the bad New York weather with us," Warwick Valley coach Mike Potter said. "We're happy we got to race. We're historians. This is one of the best courses. We wanted to come out here and be a part of it."

Warwick Valley finished in seventh place with 280 points. Tim Luthin was running with the leaders for most of the race before falling back. Luthin placed 11th with a time of 14:57.

Potter said Warwick Valley also has competed in California and Florida and that Illinois is the 18th state it has visited.